The Cosmos Sagas: Prodigal
by Tearziel
Summary: Though the Synod have managed to destroy the dark miko Kikyou, her apprentice, Naraku has taken her place and is bent on the utter destruction of the Federation. Will it fall, or will it find it's salvation in the most unlikely of places?
1. Chapter 1

**The Cosmos Sagas: Prodigal **

Chapter I

CRASH!

_What was that?_ Kagome thought as she wearily opened her sleep filled eyes.

Standing up from the bed and stretching, she was startled when the door to her room opened, and a small, nervous looking man ran in.

"Hurry! We've been ambushed by one of the Kagai armadas! The ship is under attack-we've gotta go!" he panted.

"Wait a minute-who are you?" Kagome asked just as another crash was heard, which rocked the entire ship, causing Kagome to fall forward onto her companion.

"My name is Hachi Chaar, I'm a soldier with the Federation, and I've been assigned to this ship to protect Lady Sango-just like you! Now come on! We have to find her and make sure she gets off the ship before it goes down!"

"Who's Sango?"

Hachi sighed heavily. "Sango is one of the members of the Synod-she's was the ranking officer on the ship, and we need to ensure her safety. She is crucial to the Federation's war against Naraku," he paused before continuing, "I've heard the rumors about you. I've heard how you've been away from the Federation for some time, and pulling some shady deals when you think no ones looking, but the Federation is willing to overlook that. Because of your unique skills, you should be able to help us save Sango. Now come on! We need to find her before the Kagai soldiers do!"

Kagome looked around her room before remembering her equipment was in the footlocker at the end of her bed. She hurried over to it, and after putting in the combination, it opened up. She pulled out a thin jacket, and threw on some pants over her sleeping clothes. _It's not going to do much if it comes down to a shoot off, but it'll have to do. At least I'm not naked._

After putting on her clothes, she continued to search around her locker-much to Hachi's dismay. Next she pulled out her computer equipment, which was really just some spikes to allow her to hack into the computer system and override doors and such. She put these in the pockets of pants, as well as some medical packs which could help heal injuries if she or Hachi received battle wounds. She continued to scrape her hand across her locker until her hand it the bottom, and then she came up with a short sword and a beam rifle.

The rifle got strapped into its holster on her upper thigh, while she carried the sword in her right hand. She tested the sword first, getting used to the weight and feel of it, before nodding the okay to Hachi.

Together, they ran out the door and into the hallway, trying not to fall over while explosions continued to rock the ship. In the hall, Kagome just stopped and stared. Black scoring covered the walls from the explosions. Wall panels were thrown everywhere, and loose wires sparked from where they had been blown apart. Bodies littered the floor, both from the Federation and Kagai.

BLEEP! Kagome heard from the device in her pocket. Pulling out her video castor revealed a tall man, probably in his early 20s. His hair was longer than Kagome's falling to the top of his thighs. On his head were two triangles that twitched continuously when they weren't cowering in his hair, hiding from all the noise.

_This is Inuyasha Vinstar. The Kagai have breached the ship and are threatening to overcome our forces-everyone get to bridge and be prepared to fight! _

Hachi squealed in admiration before saying," That was Inuyasha Vinstar! He's one of the top pilots in the Federation even though he's younger than almost all of them. He's seen more combat than we'll ever hope to see-we need to hurry to bridge. He needs our help!"

Kagome hastily put the vidcastor back in her pocket before grabbing Hachi and proceeding down the hall. When they got to the intersection between halls, they heard rifle fire and screams of agony as more soldiers fell at the hands of the Kagai. Kagome pushed Hachi into the wall before peeking around the corner to assess the situation.

Two Kagai grunts were down the hall, their full body armor gleaming in the fading light of the dying ship. Bronze colored helmets with slits in the mask for eyes, protected their heads. Their chests were completely covered with matching bronze chest plates that had looser mesh around the joints to allow for greater freedom of movement. On the left breast of the chest plate was the insignia of their master-the sinister Kagai lord Naraku.

Their arms were covered in heavy gauntlets that were said to be able to survive a shot from a power rifle. Their legs were covered in bronze combat boots that looked very uncomfortable. In their hands were large, beam rifles, called power rifles. When shot, it would emit a high pulse laser that could tear straight through a limb if it made direct contact. But, their two handed beam rifles were much more inaccurate then the one handed rifle Kagome had strapped to her leg.

"Hachi, there are two Kagai at the end of the hall. They have power rifles-so don't get hit. But don't get to close, because they're carrying short swords for close combat."

"Okay Kagome-but how do you know they'll have swords? I can't see any, and I don't know how they'd hold one with that armor."

"I just know Hachi! When I give the signal, you go hide behind that wall panel over there and give me cover fire. I'll throw a flash grenade to blind them, and then take them out up close. We don't want to make to much noise, because we don't know where the other soldiers are." Hachi nodded gravely before getting into position.

Kagome reached into her pocket and pulled out a flash grenade. She took out the pin, counted, and threw it. It landed at the feet of Kagai with a clash. The soldiers looked down in surprise, before screaming in agony when the flash went off, temporarily blinding them.

Kagome moved swiftly, running up to the two soldiers who were flailing around, waving their hands trying to find a wall to lean against. She drew her sword and attacked the soldiers, slicing them in the chinks in their armor. When they had fallen, she searched their bodies for anything she could use, and found a few grenades as well as some more medical packs.

"Come on Hachi."

With that, Kagome and Hachi continued on their way to the bridge, using stealth and planning to over come all the Kagai they came across. When they reached the bridge, they were exhausted. They leaned against the door to catch their breath. Kagome wiped the sweat off her forehead, but realized it was blood from some of the soldiers she'd killed. _This is pointless. All this loss of life. Whoever this Sango person is, she'd better be worth saving._ She pounded her fist against the door in frustration. _It's unfair! Just because she's a member of the Synod, all these men had to die! Sometimes I think we'd be better off without the Synod and all their hokey belief in an all powerful Essence of Life._

The blast door that separated Kagome and Hachi from the bridge opened with a whoosh. They entered cautiously, looking around the room for any signs of life.

There was none. The bridge looked like the rest of the ship-a disaster. The navigations computer was flashing red, warning the crew of the danger. Sparks from loose wires fell from the ceiling and could set a fire at any time. Papers were scattered everywhere, as well as more bodies.

"They must have gotten to the escape pods Kagome. We need to hurry. If Sango is no longer on the ship that means the Kagai fleet will blow this thing out of the sky. They want Sango alive-we need to hurry!"

They exited through the starboard door and ran down another broken hallway. As she ran, Kagome tried to block out the carnage and destruction. She was grateful Hachi knew where he was going, because as they ran, the hallways all looked the same, and she knew she would have gotten lost if she was by herself. Hachi stopped running suddenly, and Kagome, lost in thought, ran straight into his back with an "oomph". They were at another intersection. An empty hallway was behind them, ahead, and to the left and right, were all closed blast doors. Where they went, Kagome could only guess.

"There's something on the other side of this door. I know it." Hachi said, looking to the door directly in front of them.

"Wait-what do you mean? Isn't that the way we're-"

Hachi cut her off before she could finish her thought, "Kagome, go through the door to our right, and don't stop. Head straight, until you get to the escape pods. You need to take a pod-don't wait for me. Try and get to Skii-it's the closest planet-" the door ahead of them opened, revealing a dark, sinister looking man. Unlike the soldiers, this man was dressed in black, loose fitting clothes that billowed as he walked. In his hand was a sickle, and it seemed to glow with an unearthly, evil light that made the hair on Kagome's arms rise.

"Kagome-it's a Kagai paladin! We don't stand a chance-I'll hold him off, and you run to the escape pods," Kagome refused to budge, so Hachi pushed in toward the door before running into the open door and shutting it behind him.

"HACHI! NO!!" Kagome screamed. The ship shook again, and Kagome heard a horrible screeching sound that could only be a piece of the ship as it fell apart. Tears streaming down her face, Kagome ran down the hall toward the escape pods. She wasn't aware of anything as she ran except the pounding of her heart against her chest. She fell to the metal floor as the ship rocked again, cutting her hands as she landed on pieces of the wall panels. She cried out in pain, but got up and hurried to the door of the escape pods, clutching her injured hand to her chest. She punched in the code, and breathed a sigh of relief when it opened, permitting her to see her salvation.

She was instantly on edge when she saw she wasn't alone. But she relaxed when she realized it was Inuyasha Vinstar, "one of the top pilots in the Federation fleet" as Hachi said. Thinking about Hachi brought tears to her eyes. She sniffled, but shoved the feelings away-Hachi died to protect her, and she was going to live.

"You're the last person on board wench-it's about time. Sango's escape pod already left for Skii, and we should do the same," Inuyasha said gruffly before grabbing Kagome's arm and shoving her into the pod ahead of him. She fell on one the seats, fumbling to strap herself in before Inuyasha jettisoned the pod. He swore under his breath as he input the codes, then there was a jolt as the pod was released. The pod dropped out of the bottom of the ship, and the engine kicked in, burning fuel to get Inuyasha and Kagome to the planet safely.

If the citizens of Skii were to look up into the sky, all they would have seen was flash of light, then a stream of smoke heading toward the ground before disappearing out of sight into the clouds.

They had a hard landing, even with Inuyasha's expert piloting skills, and bounced along the ground before coming to a sudden halt. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief before unbuckling herself from her harness and standing up. She looked over at Inuyasha, prepared to say something about his fantastic landing, but then, all she could see was black.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha & Co. don't belong to me, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Cosmos Sagas: Prodigal**

Chapter II

Inuyasha stared at the girl as she tossed and turned on the bed. It was lucky he wasn't hurt in the crash, or she probably wouldn't have made it. After she blacked out, he'd grabbed her and their supplies and left the crash site as fast as possible, in case any Kagai came searching for them.

They had crash landed in the upper levels of the planet Skii, and he was able to find an old abandoned apartment where he could treat her wounds. She suffered from exhaustion mostly, but she also had a deep cut on her hand that required stitches, as well as other nicks and bruises. He had treated them to the best of his ability, but she fell into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning while she ran away from her dreams.

_I wonder what she's dreaming about that causes all the moaning and groaning. _He stared down at her, concern flashing across his amber eyes for a split second, and then it was gone.

"Keh! Stupid wench. We have work to do and you're sleeping!" He moved to shake her, hoping she'd wake, when she let out a particularly loud hiss. Fearing he had hurt her, he gently placed her back down. He brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead as he stared at her.

She was relatively young, maybe early twenties. Her hair was wavy and fell mid way down her back in black sheets. He knew her eyes were a strange cerulean color that lighted up with an inner fire when she was surprised or angry. He didn't know a lot about her-she was a last minute addition to the crew so he hadn't had a chance to go over her records. But he did know she was some kind of smuggler or something who hadn't really been involved in the recent wars that plagued the Federation. He looked down at her face again, which was currently squeezed tightly together in the throes of a dream.

"Oi! Wake up!" his only response was a grunt of indignation.

"Keh. I just know I'm gonna _love_ this stupid girl-I haven't even known her a day and already she's got me talking to myself."

_It was dark. The lights were off except for the glowing letters on the computer screens. In the reflection off one of the screens, one could see the vast emptiness of space, except for the minute points of light that were the stars and planets of other systems. _

_There was a girl. She had long, dark brown hair tied up in a high ponytail, and was dressed in a skintight black outfit trimmed in pink. She moved with the grace and confidence of a trained warrior as she drew a gigantic boomerang from her back and threw it at her enemy. As it left her hand, it began to glow with a soft pink light. It headed toward a Kagai paladin, who attempted to block it with his sword, which also glowed-but his was a sinister, deep red. When the two auras collided, there was a bright flash, and the girl jumped. She picked up her boomerang and proceeded to push the paladin back, until he tripped on the stairs and fell to his knees before her…_

Kagome sat up with a gasp, and winced when she remembered her injuries. _What a weird dream. It looked like it took place on a battle cruiser or something in space, and who was that girl?_ Feeling eyes on her, Kagome looked over, and noticed Inuyasha Vinstar staring at her intently.

"You shouldn't stare. It's rude." She said curtly.

"That's not a nice thing to say to the guy who just saved your life wench." Inuyasha replied, annoyance dripping into his voice. "When we crashed, you were knocked unconscious, and so I brought you here and fixed your wounds. You've been sleeping for about a day. But now that you're up, we need to get going. We have to find Sango and make sure she's alright."

"Wait, what?? Where are we? Who are you? Who's Sango? What the heck is going on?!?!" Kagome yelled frantically.

Inuyasha held up his hands as a sign to stop her rambling. She stopped.

"I'm Inuyasha Vinstar. I'm a pilot for the Federation. We were both on a ship carrying Lady Sango, a Synod convoyer. The Kagai attacked the ship because they want Sango because she can manipulate Essence to inspire or demoralize an army-which can turn the tide of a war." He paused before continuing, to make sure Kagome was following. She nodded her approval, and so, he went on.

"We crashed landed her on the planet Skii. It used to be a huge trade center for the Federation, but it's gone to the wayside over the years for planets that are more in the center of the galaxy. It's pretty much a huge city covering the surface of the planet. It has three "layers". We're on the top level, where the city is still pretty much intact. The middle level is down near the sewer systems and is overrun by gangs and other lowlifes who have no regard for anything living besides themselves. The last level, from what I've heard, is hell on earth. There's no sun, because it can't filter through the city, and the people there are supposedly full of diseases and other problems."

"Oh" was all she could say. She stood up and stretched her sore muscles, and then looked around the apartment for her gear. It was in the corner, under the only window in the apartment. She walked over to the window, and stared down at the sprawling metropolis below.

The entire city seemed suspended above the clouds, with buildings made out of some kind pearly white stone that reflected the light of the setting sun, turning the entire city into a giant rainbow. There was a walkway that lined on both sides by the buildings, and it stretched into the horizon. Scurrying along the pathway were humans, but from Kagome's viewpoint, they just looked like dots on a page. Looking back from the window, she picked up her gear and proceeded to strap it on.

"So," Kagome began, "Where do we start looking for Sango?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes in thought before replying, "Well, I've heard rumors that another escape pod crashed into the Lower Levels, so we should get down there to try and investigate. But the only problem is, the Kagai have taken over the planet. They've made a blockade so no ships can get in, and declared the planet in a state of martial law. The only way to get to the Middle Levels, and then the Lower Levels, is by elevators, which are under watch every hour of every day."

Kagome sighed. "Well, then we should get started." Just as she finished speaking, her stomach rumbled. She blushed. "In a minute I guess."

As Kagome began making her dinner, an awkward silence settled over the two. Not one for awkward silence, Kagome decided to fill the void with small talk.

"So, Inuyasha. Since we're going to be working together for awhile, why don't you tell me about yourself."

He had been watching her eat in silent indifference, but at her question, his eyes hardened and his entire countenance changed to defensive.

"Look, I know you have questions, and maybe later, I'll answer them, but right now, we have a job to do, so just finish your food and lets get going!" he ground out.

Kagome held up her hands in a placating gesture, and said "Okay, okay! Calm down! There's no need to get all defensive, it was just a question." She slurped up some noodles, and wiped her chin when some broth ran down her face. "Alright, so, no personal questions. What about-oh!" She paused before continuing, as if weighing her options to see if he'd explode then. She nodded, seeming satisfied with whatever conclusions she drew, and asked "Can you tell me what's been going on recently? I've been away, so I don't really know anything about Naraku or the war, or anything."

Inuyasha just gave her a blank stare. She made a loud slurping sound-just to annoy him-before finishing off her noodles. She picked up the trash then threw it away in the garbage before sitting back down.

"Well, about six years ago, war started between the Federation and the ookami youkai. The Ookami were trained warriors, who only lived for the glory of winning a battle, and they decided to challenge the Federation by attacking planets on the outskirts of the Federation's jurisdiction." As he was saying this, his hand began to twitch, and move toward his blaster, which he kept hidden on his right side. He pulled it out of the holster and began cleaning it while he continued.

"The Ookami were surprisingly strong, so the Federation wasn't prepared for the assault. They started winning all kinds of desolate planets before the Federation got there act together. That took about a year or two. The Federation then went to the Synod Council and asked for help. But, the Synod being what they are, was taking to long to decide their involvement in the war. The younger generations of Synod became frustrated with the Council and it's lack of action so they decided to take matters into their own hands." He had finished cleaning his blaster, so he replaced it in the holster, stood up, and started toward the window overlooking the city.

"They were lead by two promising Synod-a miko named Kikyou, and a paladin named Naraku. Kikyou was the smarter of the two, and became the leader of the armies fighting against the Ookami. She was amazing at planning strategies and then executing them. Kikyou had an amazing connection to Essence, and was able to make it do things no one had seen before. From healing the worst injuries to stopping bombs from exploding in midair-she seemed invincible. With Kikyou's planning, and Naraku's raw power, the Federation was able to slowly beat the Ookami forces back to the Outskirts."

"Kikyou and Naraku were to return from the Outskirts as heroes who saved the Federation. But when they did come back, it was with a huge fleet, and they attacked the Federation, and no one knows why. They had somehow been turned from the teachings the Synod, and embraced the Kugai." Inuyasha looked away from the window to Kagome.

"How do you not know this stuff? It's all such common knowledge."

"Hey! I've been gone-I didn't really care what happened to the Federation in my absence ok?"

Inuyasha just smirked at her, earning a glare from Kagome, before continuing on.

"The Federation, crippled from an already expensive and draining war, was now on the brink of collapse. They fought Kikyou's forces, but it was a losing battle. In the midst of all the fighting, the Synod was able to send a strike team to Kikyou's battle cruiser. Sango was one of them-she killed Kikyou. With the position open, Naraku stepped into Kikyou's place, and assumed control of the fleet to decimate the Federation."

After he finished, he walked over to Kagome, and said, "That's enough talk. You see why we need to find Sango?"

Kagome nodded and stood up. Strapping on her blaster's holster as she walked to the door, she turned back to Inuyasha and just stared. And stared.

"Are you coming or what? You're the one yelling at me to come on and hurry up, but who's lolley gagging now? Do you want to save Sango and get off this rock or what?" She smirked at him with hands on her hips.

Inuyasha stepped away from the window, scoffing in annoyance at his new companion. He grabbed anything that might be helpful, stuffed them in his pockets, and sauntered out of the room without a second glance at Kagome.

"Moron." Kagome mumbled under her breath before stepping out the door. Shutting and locking it behind her, she hurried after Inuyasha to the elevator that would take them to the Top Levels of Skii, and their quest to find Lady Sango.

**  
**

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha & Co. belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I also don't own anything having to do with Star Wars; I'm just tweaking the names and ideas a bit for the heck of it.**


End file.
